Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Will be interesting to see how they sort this one out.

Hello. This is going to be interesting, an article in the Guardian about charging people to watch BBC iplayer on a computer. The Government is to rush through legislation to close the iplayer loophole which allows people to watch BBC shows on catchup services without having a TV licence. As you know this is what me and millions of others are doing, perfectly legally.

Apparently the BBC are losing out on £150 million a year. I think they maybe should have thought of that when they joined in the rush to build their internet site. Surely the present situation was predictable, they broadcast programmes which can be seen live, and an our later on catchup, and people can access either from their computer. You do need a TV licence if you watch live TV. A detector van will pick up the signal if you are watching on a conventional TV set, but I'm not sure how they can police it if you are not receiving a signal from an aerial on the roof of your house into your computer.

It will be interesting to see how they are going to get people to buy a licence. I don't think anyone will be flocking to buy one. You don't need a licence to watch the other channels because they raise their revenue through advertising, so what's to stop people saying they only watch the other channels? How are they going to prove that you are watching BBC?

It's going to be one hell of an administration and technical nightmare to sort this out. There are so many different devices to watch TV on, and not all are static and connected to a socket on the wall. How will they be able to keep a check on every one of those, especially when millions of people are on the move. Is everyone going to need to get a licence irrespective of whether they actually watch BBC TV or not? I can't see that happening. We already pay for broadband, or maybe an extra charge will be added to that, but then there is a lot of free access to wifi now. Maybe will we be able to opt out of the BBC television web site? Perhaps they will block it and you have to buy a code to unlock it. I will watch with interest on how this story unravels. You can read the full article here.

In the meantime, I am not worried about what might or might not happen. I see television as a want, not a need. When I first had a computer I didn't watch television on it. Then I found out I could watch programmes on catchup and I thought it was a nice little bonus. I don't watch much at all, only the odd one or two that interest me. So they can do what they like, I am not bovvered.

I can still get my entertainment from Yooootooob. Watch as much as I want from all over the world.

From ITV.

From Channel 4.

And Channel 5.

I have also been snooping around the net, and there are lots of other sites where you can get free television from all over the world. Sorry, but I won't be buying a licence.

Look at the time, I've been waiting for the rain to stop, must get up off my bum and do three miles.

15 comments:

That is an interesting development for UK residents. We watch so little tv we stopped our cable company subscription a few months ago and do not miss it. It was $70 a month. So that is a big fat savings over a year.

Cherie, I think you may be right. My Sister-in-law moved from Southern Island back to the UK. Within 3 days of moving into her new home she had a knock on the door from the TV Licence people. The house she purchased had been empty for about two months. x Rae x

When we were first married in 1969 we didn't have a television, but was given an old television of my husband's parents. There were only two channels then BBC and ITV and this old television could only get ITV, but we were told that we had to get a licence because the television box is a receiver. Were we young, innocent and gullible? Maybe.

If you don't like what they produce, why do you pay for a TV license? In Germany you have to pay for a tv license whether you own a tv/watch the programmes or not. Use your right to stop paying, and therefore stop watching bbc tv?

The BBC is a business like any other, they have costs and salaries to pay. Such a shame that people want something for nothing, it's just not feasible and means that in the long term, programmes we enjoy watching and learn from simply won't be made any more because of a lack of budget.

I watch a few things on ITv, C4 & C5 but there is a lot to be said for INDEPENDENT journalism where one isn't faced with adverts being shoved in one's face every 15 minutes, not to mention the product placement within the programmes.

The new TV vans that patrol areas can tell what channel and programme you are watching now, I think if the BBC did as the other channel do and advertise then it possibly could be free to the public. My daughter said that New Zealand do not pay licence fees . Ilona when you reach an older number the government will give you a free TV licence, maybe then you will buy yourself a set, the new flat screen ones are not so expensive now. Loved the sleeping babies, so cute.Danneke

we subscribe to Netflix. Its about £6 per month. There is all sorts on it. Just looked on Iplayer and the only things I fancied watching was Midwives,which finishes next week and Back in time for The Weekend ,also finishes next week. So that's me done then! Not had a tele for 5 years. No point !

In Sweden they had a similar discussion some time ago. The TV license has to be paid if you own a receiver. They also go around to check if there is a TV signal on somewhere with some kind of tracking device, and they call people to inquire if they have a TV. Once the national channel started broadcasting live through the internet, they also considered computers, tablets and mobile phones to be receivers. So everybody was charged TV license. This was then taken to court. The court decided that a laptop, tablet and smart phone were not made with the intention to watch live-tv. The purpose of these devices is not the same as a TV-set, therefore the TV license could not be charged on these devices. The charged fees had to be repaid to all those who had been charged the fee wrongfully. Hopefully they will look at the Swedish precedent.

Hello, and thank you so much for this. How can our government possibly police their new proposals when there are so many devices out there to view television programmes on? A lot of what we get on the TV appears later on Youtube, anyway. The whole idea is unmanageable. If they try and get money out of me, I shall just say I don't watch BBC TV at all, whether live or catchup. How are they going to prove otherwise?

Computers were not intended to be a replacement for watching television, so why did they all rush to broadcast their programmes online? The BBC will have to close down their web site to ensure that the only way to watch is to own a television set and pay the licence, and I doubt very much that people will rush out to buy one.

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